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Chef Dan Barber's Row 7 Takes Flavor-Forward Approach to Produce
James Beard Award Winner Explained His Veggie Philosophy at Chicago Dinner
Chef Dan Barber is one of the nation's most recognized culinary artists, stemming from the success of his Blue Hill restaurant in New York City's Greenwich Village (opened in 2000 and now known as Family Meal at Blue Hill) and his Blue Hill at Stone Barns, launched in 2004 at Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture in Pocantico Hills, New York (located about 30 miles north).
But Dan is known not just for his skills in the kitchen, but also as an innovator in the growing plots of Stone Barns Center, a leading non-profit institution — located on a portion of the former Rockefeller family estate — that provides research and education on better-for-people-and-the-planet.
The author of the highly regarded 2014 book The Third Plate: Field Notes on the Future of Food, Dan started planting and developing new seed varieties in pursuit of his holy grail: better tasting vegetables. In 2018, he joined with Michael Mazourek, a plant breeder teaching at Cornell University, and Matthew Goldfarb of Fruition Seeds (also in upstate New York) to launch the Row 7 company.
Originally intended to be a producer and seller of higher quality seeds, Row 7 has evolved into a marketer of flavor-forward fresh vegetables, along with chef-recipe- driven, ready-to-eat canned veggies. This has led to a strong relationship with the Chicago-based Mariano's grocery store chain, which on October 22 held a dinner at Cafe Yaya in the Lincoln Park neighborhood to introduce the brand.
Speaking Truth to Produce
Joined at the event by Row 7 President Charlotte Douglas and Chief Operating Office Liz Mahler, Dan made brief but impactful remarks at the start of the meal.
He first gave a shoutout to the Chicago food community:
"We were here doing a dinner a year ago, a little over a year ago. We are sort of a traveling vegetable show right now... But it was that particular trip that I think changed our understanding of what we had in this company, Row 7. We were met with such love and excitement for the Chicago community, the chefs and the influencers, the writers, the restaurant people. It was it was it was a very special feeling."
He added, "I think it has a lot to do with Chicago. I think it has something to do with our vegetables."
Row 7 is the culmination of Dan's goal to grow more delectable vegetables.
"I'm a chef who loves vegetables," he said. "I loved heirloom vegetables and was an evangelist for old varieties with old genetics and the kinds of things that our grandparents wrestled with to preserve and pass over generations."
But a conversation with Michael Mazourek in 2010 gave him a fresh perspective on how natural hybridization can produce tastier vegetables.
"I asked him if you're a squash breeder, why don't you breed a butternut squash actually tastes good? Why do we have to be told to add sugar and butter to serve it to my guests or to our family? And he said, 'The reason I've never developed a butternut squash that tastes good is because no one's ever asked me to select for flavor.' It was the beginning of our company actually that moment."
The discussion ultimately prompted Michael to develop the Honey Nut, a small winter squash with flavor that has made it wildly popular.
"Vegetables should be taking center stage, speak for themselves and say it all, and that is what we want...," Dan continued. "The opportunity and the diversity that we'll experience tonight with this cuisine, but with our vegetables, is so exciting."
Noting that his Row 7 colleague Charlotte said the idea that we started can be democratized: "It's a business. There's no reason that that vegetables that taste really good don't yield well as well. The idea that deliciousness and nutrient density and health were all the same thing was crazy. And the idea that it could scale that you didn't have to produce four squashes an acre to get the kind of flavor that we're going to taste tonight."
He concluded, "This is not for the 1%, which is why we're so excited to be at the table with Mariano’s, because you guys are the first in your class with innovation. It is really for the public, but it's presented with an eye towards creativity and innovation in a way that just feels very energized for us to be a part of."
To prove how delicious Row 7 products are, Dan and the Mariano's team paired by with one of Chicago's star chefs: Zach Engel, who first gained prominence in New Orleans before moving to Chicago and opening Galit in 2018 and neighboring Cafe Yaya in 2025.
Both restaurants feature Zach's take on Middle Eastern cuisine. The menu follows, and everything we were served was just exquisite (including the puffiest pita bread I've ever enjoyed).
Hummus: Row 7 Honeypath squash misozuke, pickled and charred Row 7 Sweet Garleek, vegan "brown butter"
Labneh: Hyssop, sumac, sesame, olive oil
Pumpkin Tershi: Cuminurfa, nigella seeds, sumac
Pickles: Yemenite, Bulgarian, Israeli
Potato Latke: Row 7 Upstate Abundance potatoes, Row 7 Sweet Garleek top labneh, golden kaluga caviar
Autumnal Salad: Werp Farms lettuces, baharat-spiced Row 7 HoneyPatch squash, Janie's Mill Turkey Red wheat sourdough croutons, Seedling Fruit Mutsu apples, herby tahini
Mushroom "Tagine": Wood-roasted Row 7 Koginut squash, lion's mane mushroom, hand-rolled couscous, harissa
Slagel Farm Tri-Tip: Melty Row 7 Sweet Garleek vinaigrette, sumac, last spring's ramp butter, "au poivre"
Row 7 Upstate Abundance Potatoes: Saffron labneh, whipped beef tallow, cumin
Row 7 HoneyPatch Squash (Dessert): Sheep's milk ice cream, ras el hanout, baklavah crumbs
The creativity award went to Zach's Mushroom Tagine. As many readers know, a tagine is an earthenware pot with a lid that is especially prominent in Morocco's cuisine. In Cafe Yaya's take, a whole large Row 7 squash played the role of cooking vessel for the mushrooms.
Suitably impressed, I headed off to my local Mariano's store in the Lakeview neighborhood to photograph the Row 7 display (and purchase some products).
Row 7's website includes a long list of chef-advisors, made up of both national and regional bold-faced names. And because Dan's small plot at Stone Barns can't grow at commercial scale, the company has contracted with organic farmers across the country, including two trial growers in downstate Illinois: Epiphany Farms in Downs (near Bloomington) and The Farm in Bourbonnais (near Kankakee).
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